Something that I don’t think was covered, or at least I don’t recall it off hand, in Think and Grow Rich, is that in order to become rich, part of the mental shift is that you must become a taker.
Maybe this isn’t an issue for many people, but I realized that I’m not a natural taker. I feel guilty taking. I feel guilty standing up for myself. I’m a natural giver. And while I truly love giving, I feel I probably instinctually do it most of the time rather than consciously give of myself.
And why am I such a stupendous giver, you may ask. Well, I realized just recently that it’s because of low self worth. In this book, I wrote about here: 4 Behavioral Types From How to Mind-Read Your Customers, one of the key traits to the “Driven” behavioral type is that the reason they are driven is because of terribly low self-esteem. I don’t think I’m primarily a Driver, but I certainly have some Driver characteristics. And I’m sure much can also be said similarly about the Influential/Sociable People, of which I primarily am. Why are you such a massive people pleaser if not to validate yourself in the eyes of other people. So you see, what I realized very recently is that I naturally give because I simply can’t take. Interesting, isn’t it?
So, my path to becoming insanely rich is already paying off dividends. In order to be rich, you much be willing to take. In order for me to take, I must learn to feel worth the taking.
As a quick aside, something I’ve also already learned is the saying, “Time is Money” is pretty accurate. Time is exactly what I have least of. And people who aren’t important to me feel like they can take as much of it as they want. And up until now, I felt obligated to give it to them. There are 15 people in my life who are important to me. To them, I will give as much time as they need. But everybody else, I’m getting out a stop watch.
I don’t need to feel guilty about guarding my time or my money. It’s mine. It is my tool to do with as I want. I own it. It doesn’t control me and no one else controls it. If I want to give it, I’ll give it. But as of today, I’m no longer just letting others take it from me. I am consciously going to give it on my terms. And for the next while, I’m going to learn the art of taking. I’m a good giver. I need to be a better taker.